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The headlights on my 1990 Trans Am GTA are about as bright as candles at this point, so I think it’s finally time for a replacement. I’m not sure if they’re still the original sealed beams, but the car only has 77,000 km (47,845 miles), so it’s possible.
The obvious route would be to grab a new set of Wagner or Sylvania sealed beams, but I’m pretty detail-oriented and trying to see if there’s a more legitimate “OEM” option out there. I’ve seen NOS ACDelco 6054 sealed beams for sale, but the prices are pretty steep, and honestly, I’m a little concerned about how well they’d actually perform after all these years.
Does anyone know if OEM sealed beams from a final-model-year Chevrolet Express would fit and work properly in these cars?
I’d like to make a decision soon, so I’d love to hear your thoughts — whether it’s worth hunting down an OEM-style solution or if I should just bite the bullet and go with a fresh set of Wagners or Sylvanias.
I’d get the kind that have replaceable bulbs. That way, they would look stock, but be very bright. If you upgrade to LED bulbs, it would look stock but have the light output of a modern car.
Last edited by Mikos_89; May 13, 2026 at 08:03 PM.
I’d get the kind that have replaceable bulbs. That way, they would stock, but be very bright. If you upgrade to LED bulbs, it would look stock but have the light output of a modern car.
Agreed. You can piece together a set on Amazon or pony up for the Holley retro fit kit. I have the Slyvania super Brites or whatever and they are terrible. I don't know how I drove this thing back in the day with these lights. I avoid night.
The nice thing about a Firebird is that nobody will see the headlights unless they're up and on, where nobody will still be able to see them without going blind from trying to look into them to see what they are, so you can install any type of modern or classic 5x7 H4 headlight. But if finding one that's as close to a legitimate OE headlight as you can find is your preference, then your choices will be the off-the-shelf 5x7, such as Wagner, Sylvania, Phillips, GE, and probably some other brands I haven't thought of at the moment. Otherwise, the modern options people have listed will all be better, and if you search the net, you find a bazillion more.
I wouldn’t replace a part because nobody will se it, doing that and you’ll have a jeggs car, find the correct lamps. Swap, junk yard, guy parting out cars,
I went with Sylvania Xtravisions on my IROC and I didn't find them to be much better than the stock headlights. I'll probably go another route at some point but I don't drive a lot at night right now so I'm in no hurry.
Last edited by GearheadSS; May 14, 2026 at 10:28 AM.
I’d get the kind that have replaceable bulbs. That way, they would look stock, but be very bright. If you upgrade to LED bulbs, it would look stock but have the light output of a modern car.
I like the replaceable bulb feature.
Originally Posted by Mikos_89
Hella makes them too…but these might be the smaller ones for ‘91-‘92….
I have a pair of these! Had them on my '92 S-10 back in '92. Never have installed them on the T/A.
Originally Posted by Mikos_89
These are the ones I’ll probably get when I get my car running. They come with replaceable bulbs and the bulbs are LED.
I like the LED idea, but those huge heat sinks worry me given their proximity to the composite Firebird hidden headlamp "doors" and their painted surfaces.
I have a pair of these! Had them on my '92 S-10 back in '92. Never have installed them on the T/A.
I like the LED idea, but those huge heat sinks worry me given their proximity to the composite Firebird hidden headlamp "doors" and their painted surfaces.
You can line the inside of the headlight doors with heat resistant aluminum foil tape. Or, you can run a separate resistor to a different location and use LED’s without the integrated heat sink on them.
I don’t think the bulbs pictured above would get hot enough to melt the (magnesium?) headlight doors or blister the paint on top. If they were plastic, then I’d be concerned.
Hella makes them too…but these might be the smaller ones for ‘91-‘92….
I had the Camaro equivalent in my 85 Z28 way back when. They were a huge improvement over stock. I even rigged up a custom harness with heavier gauge wiring to help feed them. Not sure if that part was necessary, but I was 22 lol
We currently have 2 headlight options for 1982-90 Firebirds/Trans Ams. We sell a kit that includes a pair of headlights with glass lens and replaceable H4 bulbs, they include halogen bulbs or you can select led in the options and we will swap them out before shipping them. They do not require any wiring or other changes. Once installed we recommend manually raising them up/down to verify wiring will not snag when headlights go up and down. 1982-90 Firebird Conversion Headlights – Screaming Chicken
We also sell the Holley Retrobright headlights, these headlights look stock but have light output like a new car. They have the stock headlight lens pattern and use Holley specific led bulbs that are included. They install with no changes. The Holley headlights would be the closest product currently available that gives you great visibility at night but you can't tell that anything has been changed when the lights are off. The lights are designed and manufactured by Morimoto. Holley pictures below. 1982-90 Firebird Holley Retrobright Headlights – Screaming Chicken
I had the Camaro equivalent in my 85 Z28 way back when. They were a huge improvement over stock. I even rigged up a custom harness with heavier gauge wiring to help feed them. Not sure if that part was necessary, but I was 22 lol
I’m sure it helped. I did the same thing, but I ran relays to help with the power going to the headlights. My harness was completely removable without any splices or cuts to the original wiring harness. The advantage I had was the headlights, my old ‘88 Toyota PU, were the same size as the Firebird GTA.
When I sold the truck, I saved the headlights for the GTA. The headlights were sealed beam off-road lights rated at 85 watts so they were really bright on the low beam. When in traffic, I used to get flashed a lot from people who thought my high-beams were on. lol! They were aimed correctly, just really bright. Now that we have replaceable bulb style headlights for these cars and resistor free LED bulbs, I think I’ll go that route instead.
We currently have 2 headlight options for 1982-90 Firebirds/Trans Ams. We sell a kit that includes a pair of headlights with glass lens and replaceable H4 bulbs, they include halogen bulbs or you can select led in the options and we will swap them out before shipping them. They do not require any wiring or other changes. Once installed we recommend manually raising them up/down to verify wiring will not snag when headlights go up and down. 1982-90 Firebird Conversion Headlights – Screaming Chicken
We also sell the Holley Retrobright headlights, these headlights look stock but have light output like a new car. They have the stock headlight lens pattern and use Holley specific led bulbs that are included. They install with no changes. The Holley headlights would be the closest product currently available that gives you great visibility at night but you can't tell that anything has been changed when the lights are off. The lights are designed and manufactured by Morimoto. Holley pictures below. 1982-90 Firebird Holley Retrobright Headlights – Screaming Chicken
I’m sure it helped. I did the same thing, but I ran relays to help with the power going to the headlights. My harness was completely removable without any splices or cuts to the original wiring harness.
Ha sounds like we had the same idea. I used the stock wiring to trigger a relay on a custom harness pulling power straight from the battery. Threw it all away when cleaning out the garage at my dad's house 5-6 years ago
